A day out in Stratford-Upon-Avon

Despite the summer in the UK being a almost a complete washout, we managed to find a sunny and relatively warm August day on which to enjoy a day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire. Situated close to my parents' house in South Birmingham, the picturesque market town is a only a short bus ride, train ride or drive away. We opted to take the scenic bus route along the Stratford Road and enjoyed the views from the top deck which include the pretty little town of Henley-in-Arden.

Stratford was heaving with both tourists and locals taking advantage of a rare glimpse of the sun. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the river Avon from the town centre to Holy Trinity Church (burial place of William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway) stopping for a picnic along the way. Although we'd chosen to bring a picnic lunch with us, as a popular tourist spot, Stratford is awash with pleasant eating places including plenty of vegetarian and halal options.

View along the river Avon - a perfect picnic spot. Boats are available to hire by the half hour and family deals are also available on 45 minute river tours.

In the afternoon, we enjoyed tea and cakes in the aptly named Hathaway Tea Rooms. Although the cafe was full to bursting, there was plenty of seating available in the pleasant little garden. Most of our party had already experienced the Shakespeare themed attractions on previous trips and given the sheer numbers out in force that day, we decided to stick to sightseeing.

Henley Street, Shakespeare's birthplace can just be seen on the far left of the picture.

As one of the members of our party was my sister Nadia, we couldn't have left without a trawl through the many charity shops. Stratford is a fairly upmarket town with names such as Laura Ashley, Kaliko and The White Company featuring prominently in the main shopping streets and to a charity shop connaisseur like Nadia, this held a lot of promise! I will save my purchases to show you in a haul at a later date but Nadia picked up this pretty little shell for a mere 75p and it looks perfect with this group of pink pots on the window sill next to her reading nook.